This invention relates to an improved solar and convection assisted heat pump system.
Use of a heat pump for indoor heating and cooling is well known. Heat pump systems are especially useful in the temperate sections of the United States to transfer heat between the outdoors and indoors.
There are many types of heat pump systems. A description of various heat pump systems is set forth in the 1976 ASHRAE Handbook and Product Directory published by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers, Inc., particularly at pages 11.1 through 11.4. A bibliography in the ASHRAE Handbook also references various papers which describe heat pump systems.
One common type of heat pump system utilizes air as a heat source and sink and also uses air as the distribution fluid. The thermal cycle or transfer of heat between the outdoor and indoor air is accomplished by means of a refrigerant which is made to flow between an indoor coil and an outdoor coil in a refrigeration cycle.
A heat pump system, disclosed in the 1976 ASHRAE Guide and also discussed in a technical article by Sporn and Ambrose entitled "The Heat Pump and Solar Energy" (Association for Applied Solar Energy, Proceedings World Symposium on Applied Solar Energy, November 1955), teaches that the outdoor coil of a heat pump may be a solar panel. Various patents have also taught that a solar panel may be used as an outdoor coil in association with a heating or refrigeration system for a building. For example, Newton, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,342,211, teaches such a system. However, the Newton system does not contemplate a combined solar panel and heat pump system.
Other patents and publications of the same general type and nature include the following:
______________________________________ Pat. No. Inventor Title Issue Date ______________________________________ 2,342,211 Newton Utilization of Natural 2/22/44 Heating and Cooling Effects 2,396,338 Newton Radiation Heating and 3/12/46 Cooling System 2,689,090 Wetherbee, Heating System 9/14/54 et al 2,713,252 Jackson, Temperature Control 7/19/55 et al System 3,194,303 Haried Heat Pump System 7/13/65 3,960,322 Ruff, Solar Heat Pump 6/01/76 et al 3,991,938 Ramey Combination Heat Pump 11/16/76 and Low Temperature Solar Heat Absorber 3,996,759 Meckler Environment Assisted 12/14/76 Hydronic Heat Pump System 4,007,776 Alkasab Heating and Cooling 2/15/77 System Utilizing Solar Energy 4,012,920 Kirschbaum Heating and Cooling 3/22/77 System with heat Pump and Storage 4,030,312 Wallin Heat Pumps with Solar 6/21/77 et al Heat Source 4,052,001 Vogt Heating System 10/4/77 4,066,118 Goettl Air Conditioning System 1/03/78 4,103,493 Schoenfelder Solar Power System 8/01/78 4,111,259 Lebduska Energy Conservation 9/05/78 System 4,167,965 Rogers Integral Water-Refrig- 9/18/79 erant-Air Heat Exchange System 4,178,989 Takeshita, Solar Heating and 12/18/79 et al Cooling System ______________________________________ Article entitled "Solar Energy Supplemented RuralHome Heat Pump" by Georg R. Mowry, Solar Energy, Vol. 8, No. 1, 1964, pages 12-16 Article entitled "Performance of a Solar Heated Office Building", by F. H Bridgers, et al, Transactions American Society of Heating and AirConditioning Engineers, pages 83-110
There are additional patents and publications which teach the use of solar panels or solar absorption for heating and cooling building structures. Typical among these are the following:
______________________________________ Pat. No. Inventor Title Issue Date ______________________________________ 3,935,897 Pulver Method of Solar 2/03/76 Heating and Cooling 2,030,350 Bremser Solar Operated Refrig- 2/11/36 erating System 2,221,971 Haywood Solar-Absorption Cooling 11/19/40 System for Building Structures 3,952,947 Saunders Heating and Ventilation 4/27/76 System ______________________________________ "The Hammer" December 1979, page 3
While the referenced prior art teaches that solar collection coils may be used both for heating and cooling purposes in a building, none of the patents of known prior art appears to teach the combination of a solar assisted heat pump coil which relies simultaneously upon moisture evaporation or condensation on a coil, prevailing air flow in a geographical region over a coil, solar energy absorption by a coil, natural convection flow over a coil and the normal energy transfer mechanism associated with the cycles of a heat pump; namely, radiation transfer. The present invention constitutes what is believed to be an improved combination of all of these particular features and provides for significantly improved efficiency of heat pump operation, lower energy consumption and improved economies for a home heating and cooling system.